Bay count, drive interface and the processor behind the applications · review
Synology DiskStation DS124 review
One of two Synology listings on this shelf that name DSM, and one of three here that publish a surveillance function — on a page that publishes no hardware figure at all.
The DS225+ on this shelf has its processor, its memory ceiling and the part number of its upgrade module in the bullets, and never names the software that runs it. This page is the mirror image. Not one hardware figure appears in the title or the five bullets, and the description names the software outright: Synology DiskStation Manager, DSM, with its solutions described as license-free.
That matters more than it sounds on this shelf. The intro to this section calls the operating system the least comparable part and the part people live with. Of the twenty-one listings here, three name theirs: UGOS Pro on the UGREEN DXP4800 GT, and DSM here and on the DS723+ bundle. Several enclosures describe software by its features and never call it anything, and the LinkStations describe theirs as a closed system without a name.
The third bullet publishes a surveillance function with a specific claim: monitoring around the clock with detection of people and vehicles, and instant alerts. The DXP4800 GT on this shelf publishes one too, limited in as many words to ONVIF and RTSP cameras, and the DS723+ bundle names surveillance software and a network video recorder role. This page names no camera standard, so what will actually connect is the question it leaves open — the reverse of the GT, which names the standard and nothing about detection.
One bay, sold empty. Twelve of the twenty-one listings on this shelf arrive that way and eight arrive filled, so the comparison against the LinkStations beside it is incomplete until two numbers are added: $159.99 buys the box, and a drive has to be bought on top. The one-bay LinkStation 710 on this shelf arrives with eight terabytes in it for $382.99 on October 26, 2026. Whether the Synology is cheaper depends entirely on the drive chosen, and that is exactly the arithmetic the intro to this shelf exists to make visible.
What the page will not help with is the hardware. No processor, no memory figure, no network socket counted, no port speed, no drive size, no M.2 slot, no array arrangement named — and with one bay there is no array to name. No decibel value, no figure in watts. The fifth bullet gives two years of warranty with the maker’s support and ongoing software updates, which on a unit sold for its operating system is the more relevant of the two promises.
The first bullet covers automatic backup from iPhone, Android, Mac and Windows to one location; the second a private file cloud reachable from anywhere; the fourth full data ownership with no subscription. The description calls it a super compact data hub. The product record carries 1,247 g (44 oz) and 71 by 166 by 224 mm (8.82 in), and the bullets carry no measurement.
Prices quoted in this text were read on October 26, 2026. The live price is at the top of the page.
Where it holds up, and where it stops
Strengths
Names its operating system — DSM — and states that its solutions are license-free, where most enclosures on this shelf never name their software at all
Publishes a surveillance function with a specific claim: detection of people and vehicles with instant alerts
Makes no RAID claim on a single bay, which the one-bay LinkStation 210 pages on this shelf do make
Two years of warranty with ongoing software updates named, which on a unit sold for its software is the relevant promise
The lowest Amazon.com price on this shelf on October 26, 2026, at $159.99, although unlike the LinkStations a drive still has to be bought on top
Compromises
No processor, no memory, no network socket and no port speed: not one hardware figure anywhere on the page
Sold empty, so the price cannot be compared with the pre-filled LinkStations here until a drive is chosen and added
The surveillance function names no camera standard, so what will connect to it is unstated
One bay, so no array is possible and the capacity is whatever single drive goes in
No decibel value and no figure in watts, on a unit sold as compact enough to sit anywhere
Specifications
Bay count
One — stated in the title as a 1-Bay diskless unit. Twelve of the twenty-one listings on this shelf are sold without a drive, and this is one of them
Drive interface
Not published on the listing — the title states the unit is diskless and no drive size in inches and no bus appears in the title, the five bullets or the description
Solid-state slot count
Not published on the listing — no M.2 slot and no cache slot is named anywhere on the page
Processor
Not published on the listing — no chip, no core count and no clock speed appears. The DS225+ on this shelf names an Intel Celeron J4125 with four cores
Memory
Not published on the listing — no memory figure appears, where the DS225+ on this shelf gives 2 GB upgradable to 6 and the part number of the module
Ethernet port count
Not published on the listing — no network socket is counted in the title, the five bullets or the description, on a product sold as a file hub reachable from anywhere
Port speed
Not published on the listing — with no socket counted, none is given a rate
USB ports
Not published on the listing — no USB socket is named or counted
Supported redundancy levels
None possible, and none claimed — one bay cannot form an array, and unlike the one-bay LinkStation 210 pages on this shelf this page makes no RAID claim at all
Published operating system
Synology DiskStation Manager, DSM — named in the description, which states that its solutions are license-free and cover a private cloud, access from any device and collaboration. Three listings on this shelf name their operating system: DSM here and on the DS723+ bundle, and UGOS Pro on the UGREEN DXP4800 GT
Stated idle power
Not published on the listing — no figure in watts appears on the page
Stated acoustic figure
Not published on the listing — no decibel value and no claim about noise appears, on a unit described as super compact and sold for a home
Stated dimensions
Not published in the bullets — the product record carries 71 by 166 by 224 mm (8.82 in) and 1,247 g (44 oz), and the page calls the unit super compact without printing a measurement
Amazon reference
B0BYJ165RS
EAN
0846504005017
On Amazon.com
Amazon.com had an offer at $160 on October 26, 2026.
Where this unit differs
Put against the median of its own group on this site — not against every network product sold.
Stated dimensionsNot published in the bullets — the product record carries 71 by 166 by 224 mm (8.82 in) and 1,247 g (44 oz), and the page calls the unit super compact without printing a measurement-66 % against the median of this group
Bay countOne — stated in the title as a 1-Bay diskless unit. Twelve of the twenty-one listings on this shelf are sold without a drive, and this is one of them-50 % against the median of this group
The questions that come up before an order
What operating system does it run?
Synology DiskStation Manager, named in the description as DSM, with its solutions described as license-free. The DS723+ bundle on this shelf names DSM too; the DS225+ page never names its software.
Does a drive come with it?
No. The title states the unit is diskless, which puts it among the twelve listings on this shelf that need a drive bought separately before they do anything — apart from the eight LinkStations and the DS723+ bundle, every enclosure here is in that position.
What cameras will the surveillance function take?
The page does not say. The third bullet describes detection of people and vehicles with alerts and names no camera standard. The UGREEN DXP4800 GT on this shelf takes the opposite approach, naming ONVIF and RTSP and saying nothing about detection.
Against the rest of the network and storage gear
This network and storage gear share the category and the price bracket. Only what each one states is shown; an incomplete column would mislead.
Model
Price
Bay count
Drive interface
Solid-state slot count
Processor
Synology DiskStation DS124
$160
One — stated in the title as a 1-Bay diskless unit. Twelve of the twenty-one listings on this shelf are sold without a drive, and this is one of them
Not published on the listing — the title states the unit is diskless and no drive size in inches and no bus appears in the title, the five bullets or the description
Not published on the listing — no M.2 slot and no cache slot is named anywhere on the page
Not published on the listing — no chip, no core count and no clock speed appears. The DS225+ on this shelf names an Intel Celeron J4125 with four cores
One — stated in the title as 1-Bay and in the seventh bullet as one drive bay with the drive included. The first bullet calls the unit a NAS with RAID, which a single bay cannot provide
Not published on the listing as a size or a bus — the seventh bullet states 4 TB of capacity with the drive included, and no inch figure and no bus appears anywhere on the page
Not published on the listing — no M.2 slot and no cache slot is named in the title or in any of the ten bullets
Not published on the listing — no chip, no core count and no clock speed appears anywhere on the page
One — stated in the title as 1-Bay and in the seventh bullet as one drive bay with the drive included. The first bullet calls the unit a NAS with RAID, which a single bay cannot provide
Not published on the listing as a size or a bus — the seventh bullet states 6 TB of capacity with the drive included, which is the only line on the page that differs from the 4 TB version of the same model
Not published on the listing — no M.2 slot and no cache slot is named in the title or in any of the ten bullets
Not published on the listing — no chip, no core count and no clock speed appears anywhere on the page
Two — stated in the title and in the first bullet as an entry-level two-bay unit for beginners
Not published on the listing as a size or a bus — the second bullet gives a ceiling of 64 TB in total and states that drives are not included, and no inch figure and no bus appears anywhere
Not published on the listing — no M.2 slot and no cache slot is named in the title or in any of the eight bullets
Not published on the listing — the fourth bullet says "a high-performance processor" and gives no model, no core count and no clock speed anywhere on the page
What separates the models, in network and storage gear
If price decides: this model, at $160.
The buyer this one serves, among network and storage gear
A first one-bay machine chosen for DSM and the surveillance function, by someone who will pick the drive themselves.
What this one costs among network and storage gear
Amazon reports what buyers took in the month before this page was last checked: at least 100.
The figure is a floor, rounded by Amazon, and read through Keepa — it says what buyers picked, not what a maker claims.
Sources
Specifications: the manufacturer sheet for network and storage gear and the matching Amazon product page. Prices and availability: Keepa. Every figure on this page names its source.
four HDD bays and two M.2 slots · up to 136 TB · 8 GB DDR4 · 128 GB PCIe 3.0 SSD · 2.5G and 1G LAN · processor and software not named
A four-bay enclosure whose Amazon.com listing fits its whole specification into one line — four HDD bays, two M.2 slots, 2.5G and 1G LAN, 8 GB DDR4 and a 128 GB SSD — and names no processor and no software.
Best for: A buyer who already knows this model and the software they will run on it, and wants four HDD bays plus two M.2 slots in one box.
two bays · Realtek RTD1619B, four cores at 1.7 GHz · 1 GB DDR4 · one 1GbE socket · Btrfs and iSCSI snapshots named · sold without drives
A two-bay enclosure whose title states the processor, the memory and the single gigabit socket, and whose page never names the drive interface, an array arrangement or the software that runs it.
Best for: A first enclosure for a household copy of photographs and documents, where one gigabit is enough and where the buyer is content to look up the drive compatibility elsewhere.
two bays · 4 TB of drives included · ships in RAID 1 with 2 TB usable · $143.00 per usable terabyte · 24 months covering the drives · macOS 15 ceiling
The bottom rung of the LinkStation 220 ladder, and the most expensive terabyte on it: two terabytes usable for $285.99, where the twelve-terabyte version of the same box asks less than a third as much per terabyte.
Best for: The smallest mirrored LinkStation, for someone who wants two terabytes protected and nothing else, and will not want more later.
